I heard about an accident and unrelated incident that happened at Hobie Beach in Miami yesterday. One of the guys was taken away in a ambulance while the other easily could have been or worse but wasn't. Can anyone provide more details either here or via PM to ricki?

I showed up just after the ambulance I guess. I don't know much about that one, but I understand that it might not be too bad. I hope we hear soon. I did see that second one though. The guy from Pompano was riding very close to the beach and got pulled into a trash can. his kite was looping just over the bike path. This guy was very lucky, but didn't even seem to know that he just got a get out of jail free card.

I didn't end up riding, but i can say that no one but Garry and his girl were riding in the right spot. The rules as laid out 2 years ago are simply that you must launch your kite well offshore and all riding must be done outside of the swim buoys. There were mainly riders from Pompano and Lauderdale and even some schools. Even the instructors were riding way too close. At least it is nice to see that Miami isn't the only home to schools that are risking their futures by dangerous riding that will likly result in banned beaches.

I guess that the only thing that may save us is if all of us take charge of our beaches. If you see something wrong, let the rider know. It isn't just up to Tim or others. If you like riding at a particular location and want to keep doing it, stand up and let people know the rules. Launching or waking with a kite in the parking lot probably deserves a good ass kicking, but to start, firmly ask the offender not to do it. If they do it again, recommend that they ride elsewhere. This continually happens at Matheson. If you buddy is riding inside the marks, let them know. We all need to be a part of protecting our beaches. In most cases the offender probably didn't know the rules and would appreciate the advise.

It's going to be a windy start to this week. Let's make sure that we all have beaches to ride at next week! See you on the water.

Do the people who are teaching have no conscience that are putting someone in harms way? Teaching at hobbie?

Man maybe i am getting to upset at this anymore, but i can see if you teach some one bad habits and they think is a safe area, then they go anywhere and do the same thing. Cant really blame the rider, if they learned on shore with riders around and could hit the parking lot. Sounds like a survival course, more than kiteboarding.....i dont know, does anyone else feel this way or am i just a raging kook.....ok, well back out to the water.

Thanks for the information Kent. I wonder how many folks have been injured at Hobie or came perilously close to it over the years by:

1. Flying or riding with a kite too close to shore and inside the swim buoys.

2. Underestimating the gusty and frequently squally winds that come with SW conditions.

Add to that no practice hitting quick releases, functional kite leashes and the list goes up even more.

We really do need to step up and as tactfully and effectively as we can try to preserve our access. Take a few guys over and talk with the kiter creating issues. If one of these idiots gets lofted or dragged hits you, a loved one or your car, you may find reason to intercede, too late.

I had a leaping gnome get lofted off the water and blown into a car 15 ft. away from me, closer still to my now wife and do about a $1000. damage to a parked car. He didn't get a scratch out of it. This was probably six years ago, I think Kent and Neil were there as well and may have their own recollections. What has changed, awareness, even among some instructors? Doesn't seem to be the case, get a clue before the opportunity to get thrown on the barbeque comes along.

I feel the same way, Paul. I actually appreciate hearing guys like you, Ken and others stating these ideas on the forums for others to read.
The message needs to get out there to not put up with obvious kooky behavior and stand up for your spots. The more riders that agree to this, the easier it is to have agreement among the riders and carry out a "plan of attack" on kooky behaviors.
Sometimes things aren't black and white, and I am not going to claim to understand how to deal with those situations.
But when it is obviously a kook move, I think the behavior should be stopped. Gray areas are fuzzy. Obvious kooky behavior shouldn't be tolerated, imo. Land jumping just upwind of power lines sounds pretty kooky. Launching in parking lots sounds pretty kooky.

You are not raging-out, Paul. I would love to see you, Kent, Rick and others be even more vocal about steps we can all take and agree to on this forum to insure we have all of our spots for a long time.

It's not about stopping the fun or killing the stoke, imo.
It's actually about insuring we can have fun and get stoked for a long time to come.

BTW, it hasn't been too common to see really kooky stuff here lately, but when we do, it needs to be stopped, not watched.

In my opinion.
It basically means I realize many feel otherwise or just don't care about the topic.
Did you ride your "home spot" this past Saturday?
If so, was it gusty? I was thinking about riding there, but thought it might be too far south.

I heard about an accident and unrelated incident that happened at Hobie Beach in Miami yesterday. One of the guys was taken away in a ambulance while the other easily could have been or worse but wasn't. Can anyone provide more details either here or via PM to ricki?

I was riding Sunday morning until the storm clouds rolled in. After landing the kite, I decided to pack up before the rain, since I didn't have a lot of time left, anyway. At some point, I heard thunder. When I drove out, there were still way too many kites out there, but people were finally starting to come in.

Anyway, 10 minutes later, my friend called to tell me what happened. The guy was near shore with his kite at 12 o'clock. I don't know if he was going out or coming in, but it must have been at least 20 minutes after the time I heard the thunder. The first wind gust knocked his kite out of the sky, and the second gust pulled him head first into the grill of a car.

Thanks for posting the information. This same thing has played out a number of times before at Hobie. Would there be any chance that I could speak directly with your friend? There are some more details that would help, i.e. wind range, direction, sky conditions, type and size of kite, distance traveled, etc.) If this works would you please PM his number to ricki? Thanks!

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